In a declaratory tone indicative of total support, the apex body of the Ijaw nation, Ijaw National Congress has warned against any plot to tamper with the mandate of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
The President of INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, who issued the warning on Thursday at the 56th celebration of the death of late Ijaw icon, Isaac Adaka Boro, christened Boro Day held at the Ijaw Heroes Park, Yenagoa, said the INC is ready to defend the Ijaw cause.
According to him, the Ijaws are abreast of development in Rivers State because the injury to one Ijaw man, is injury to the Ijaw nation.
He warned that any plot against Fubara by his detractors would have the whole Ijaw nation to contend with.
“It’s the INC duty to defend the Ijaw cause. An injury to an Ijaw man is an injury to all of us. That is why we are so focused and committed to the Rivers’ cause.
“The Fubara – Dagogo governorship can never be tampered with. We are unrepentant in our struggle to make sure that 24 years of political slavery is a thing of the past.
“Fubara has become governor and he will remain governor. Anybody that wants to touch Fubara is touching the Ijaw nation.
On the recent solidarity visit to Fubara, Okaba defended the solidarity visit , adding that the INC does have an apology for standing up for one of their own.
“The matter was a serious one and it needed serious action. In advancing the Ijaw cause, we have also thought of what to do to go beyond rhetoric in advancing the programme of Ijaw people together to speak with one common voice”.
Okaba expressed sadness over the treatment being meted out to Ijaws in Nigeria, warning that they could exit the country due to frustration and having to struggle to get what duly belongs to them from the Nigerian State.
“We fought to have a state. We fought to have interventionist agencies. Nobody has given us anything on a platter of gold. So, the struggle continues; the INC has the core mandate of uniting the Ijaw people. It also has the mandate of advancing the identity of an Ijaw man” he said.
Okaba unfurled a map of the Niger Delta region indicating the location of all Ijaw communities pointing out that his INC leadership has launched what he described as the Ijaw Nation app to make communication easy among Ijaw people.
The Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, Prof Nimibofa Ayawei, who represented Governor Douye Diri, said laying wreaths should not be treated as an annual ritual but a reflective renewal of confidentiality and commitment to the Ijaw Nation.
